BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Sophomore Jason Raymond put down a match-high 25 kills and the Pratt Institute men's volleyball team rallied after from an opening-set defeat to upend Yeshiva University, 3-1 (18-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-23), on Thursday evening at the Activity Resource Center for their first win of the season.
Raymond hit .294 on the evening with his 25 kills nearly matching that of Yeshiva's 29 as a team. He also brought up seven digs and landed three service aces. Classmate Devaun Longley followed with seven kills on a .333 hitting effort a served up a match-best six aces.
Brooks Reid directed the offense with a 31-assist, 14-dig double-double – both career- and match-highs. The first-year setter also chipped in six kills and three aces. Sophomore Eli Toker also set a new career-high with five kills. Max Wang chipped in four kills, nine assists and eight digs.
Yeshiva (3-3) saw a balanced attack with Eidan Horn leading with seven kills and Benjamin Smillie, Shmuel Aberman, and Zanvy Lesnoy adding six kills apiece.
A tight opening set neither team ahead by three and after either ties and a 17-17 deadlock, Yeshiva rattled off four straight points to pull away for good and win 25-18.
Both teams were knotted at 17-all again in the second stanza but it was Pratt to run off five straight – sparked by a Raymond kill and back-to-back Longley aces – to distance themselves and level the match at one set apiece.
The gold-and-black used a key 4-0 run in the third to build a 14-8 cushion that they wouldn't relinquish and Raymond slammed eight kills in the frame to take a 2-1 set lead.
Another close battle for the fourth saw Pratt use a 5-1 run late to pull ahead 20-15 and earn four set points at 24-20. The visitors would wipe out three set points to threaten to extend the match before a Maccabee miscue sealed the Cannoneer victory.
The four-set affair featured 24 ties and 14 lead changes. Pratt led Yeshiva in kills, 47-29, and aces, 18-7.
Pratt returns to the ARC floor on Tuesday, February 21 to host Clinton Hill rivals St. Joseph's University-Brooklyn in a match starting at 7 p.m.
